Offline + sync iPhone/PC app?

05-07-2012, 12:13 PM

So I got an iPhone about a year ago. I've been using google Tasks to manage my lists, but I find myself resistant to using them, and I know why--it's just not flexible enough. I often find that I'm offline and need to add something, or I'm processing and I don't have a strong enough signal. I can't add things or check things off my lists on the fly.

(I was an analog GTD-er for years and am seriously contemplating going back to my moleskine pocket notebook for my action lists.)

I've tried also using an add-on to gTasks called Google Tasks Offline, which kind of solves this problem, but not quite to the degree I'd like.

Can any of you point me toward an iPhone app which

a) can manage about 7-9 context lists
b) tasks can be added/checked off even when the phone is offline
c) will sync to PC

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It has a really nice interface, is intuitive and easy to use. It has an Inbox, supports any number of custom lists, contexts and tags and handles projects really well. Appigo also provide a free applet to sync with Outlook (http://www.appigo.com/appigo-sync). It can also sync over the air with Todo Online (Appigo's own web-based task manager) or to Toodledo. So lots of options.

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Yes I can...Astrid. Although first written for the Android platform, I have iPhone colleagues that use it heavily and it will do everything you ask in your post above. You can check it out at astrid.com

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I'm not surprised you can't make google tasks works; I don't think it's very good. I like Toodledo, but find Appigo Todo idiosyncratic, even though it can sync to Toodledo. It was interesting to have a look at Astrid- seems like a basic todo list but very cute. In the words of Dorothy Parker, "Tonstant Weader fwowed up."

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It's funny how we all see things differently. Idiosyncratic is how I would describe Toodledo's iOS app. While it's packed with features, I find it very poorly designed, especially when it comes to handling projects.

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It's funny how we all see things differently. Idiosyncratic is how I would describe Toodledo's iOS app. While it's packed with features, I find it very poorly designed, especially when it comes to handling projects.

There's a difference between the less than beautiful UI design of Toodledo's iOS app and the baffling behavior of Appigo todo. On context lists, you don't see next actions, you see the project. You go inside the project, you see the next actions of the project that belong to that context. Sometimes the project shows its due date and priority, sometimes the due date and priority of a next action inside the project. For a basic todo list, I think it could be ok, but I can't make it work the way I can Toodledo, Things or Omnifocus.

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There's a difference between the less than beautiful UI design of Toodledo's iOS app and the baffling behavior of Appigo todo. On context lists, you don't see next actions, you see the project. You go inside the project, you see the next actions of the project that belong to that context. Sometimes the project shows its due date and priority, sometimes the due date and priority of a next action inside the project. For a basic todo list, I think it could be ok, but I can't make it work the way I can Toodledo, Things or Omnifocus.

I don't find Todo baffling at all - quite the opposite, I find it intuitive, easy to use yet quite powerful. I guess every app requires a bit of time to understand.

I am not sure what you mean by 'context lists'. Todo has a context field so I use the lists as folders for my main lists, e.g. Actions, Projects, Waiting-for, Someday.

As for projects, if there's a due date in italics on a project then it's coming from one of the project's tasks. If it's not in italics then it's coming from the project (parent) itself. In any case the earliest date will always be displayed whether that's the parent or a constituent task. Toodledo cannot do that.

If you have a due date on a project action, that task will appear in the Focus list (according to your Focus list settings) and it will appear 'loose', i.e. you will see the task itself, not the project, so it doesn't require extra drill-down. If you tap on a project task in the focus list you can see the project it belongs to and with another tap, jump directly to the parent so that you can display all of the project's actions. It works brilliantly. Toodledo can't do any of that.

Todo also allows you to move tasks into a projects. So if you do a quick-add of some thoughts during the day into your inbox, when you process them later it is simple to move them into an existing project or checklist. You can't do that with Toodledo - it has to be done online.

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These all sound great and good to try! Thank you all so much for the suggestions. I'll give them a try and report back.

Any one which would be particularly good/not good for lots of non-date-bound things? I don't actually ever link NAs to projects; it's just never been an issue for me. I have a single Projects list with about thirty to forty things on it at any given time, and I just hit it up during weekly reviews.

The ability to edit my lists easily is my main thing. I find myself resistant to putting an NA on a list because it's "too small" to warrant finding a good signal, typing it in, getting it to sync with my computer, etc. etc. And of course, once you're resisting recording NAs that are "too small" you've basically undermined the entire reason for practicing GTD... :-\

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I am not sure what you mean by 'context lists'. Todo has a context field so I use the lists as folders for my main lists, e.g. Actions, Projects, Waiting-for, Someday.

Sorry, I mean that when one filters by context, one sees the project, not the next action associated with the context.

As for projects, if there's a due date in italics on a project then it's coming from one of the project's tasks. If it's not in italics then it's coming from the project (parent) itself. In any case the earliest date will always be displayed whether that's the parent or a constituent task. Toodledo cannot do that.

I don't want my list manager to do that. If a next action has a due date earlier than the project, I want to see the correct date attached to each. I don't want ambiguity.

If you have a due date on a project action, that task will appear in the Focus list (according to your Focus list settings) and it will appear 'loose', i.e. you will see the task itself, not the project, so it doesn't require extra drill-down. If you tap on a project task in the focus list you can see the project it belongs to and with another tap, jump directly to the parent so that you can display all of the project's actions. It works brilliantly. Toodledo can't do any of that.

You can only see next actions loose in the focus list, not anywhere else. Actually, I think Toodledo has equivalent functionality with subtasks, but somewhat better: you can see your subtasks indented, hidden, or inline on the web site, and have the ability to jump up to a project and down to a next action in the iOS app.

Todo also allows you to move tasks into a projects. So if you do a quick-add of some thoughts during the day into your inbox, when you process them later it is simple to move them into an existing project or checklist. You can't do that with Toodledo - it has to be done online.

True, that is one thing I find lacking in the iOS app. But I really like the fact that Toodledo lets you treat all your items as data, with access to start date, mod date, add date, robust filtering and three levels of bi-directional sort. I'm actually using Omnifocus right now, which is also very good, but has an infuriating lack of completeness and orthogonality in its functionality as a database. It's a little frustrating and stupid, because OF is built on top of sql. But really, those of us in the mac world have a lot of good choices available.

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I don't want my list manager to do that. If a next action has a due date earlier than the project, I want to see the correct date attached to each. I don't want ambiguity.

Fair enough. I really like the way this works in Todo - I can tell at a glance whether it's a due date for a next action or the project, and if need be a single tap takes me into the parent where I can see due date if one is assigned.

You can only see next actions loose in the focus list, not anywhere else. Actually, I think Toodledo has equivalent functionality with subtasks, but somewhat better: you can see your subtasks indented, hidden, or inline on the web site, and have the ability to jump up to a project and down to a next action in the iOS app.

I agree that Toodledo's web version handles parent/subtasks much better than the iOS app. I'd not noticed that you could access the parent from a subtask in the iOS app.

But I really like the fact that Toodledo lets you treat all your items as data, with access to start date, mod date, add date, robust filtering and three levels of bi-directional sort. I'm actually using Omnifocus right now, which is also very good, but has an infuriating lack of completeness and orthogonality in its functionality as a database. It's a little frustrating and stupid, because OF is built on top of sql. But really, those of us in the mac world have a lot of good choices available.

Yes, the choices for Mac seem much more comprehensive. Unfortunately I have to use Windows at work but I choose to use Mac at home, so I need a web system to bridge the divide. I used Toodledo for over 2 years until recently when I switched to Todo. But I am keeping an eye on Nirvana... as soon as their iPhone version is released I will give it a serious tryout.

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So after fiddling with Toodledo for a bit, I actually wound up settling back on using gTasks. I found two apps--Google Tasks Offline (for Chrome) and geeTasks (for the iPhone), both of which let me work with my contexts lists when my computer/phone is not connected. That's critical for me, as I deliberately have my internet off from 8AM-12PM every day so that I can write without the distraction. I also found a labs feature in gMail that lets me embed my tasks list in the gMail sidebar instead of having it be a pop-out window, which was my other major problem with that interface.

So far I'm using the free version of geeTasks (aside: I love app developers that give me a trial version. I am probably ten times more likely to buy software that I can try out than stuff that I can't), but it looks like it will be pretty robust.

Reasons I didn't go with Toodledo--it's very fiddly, especially once you add syncing software. I found the task/subtask/duedates things very addictive, and quickly found I was organizing my lists more than working off them. I really try to keep deadlines only to projects, and only to truly time-sensitive ones. At the moment, there's only a deadline on one of my projects, an article I need to submit to an edited volume, because I try to honor the "This will blow up if this date is not met" hard line for date-sensitive stuff.

So for me, gTasks lack of multi-functionality seems to be the way to go--my GTD implementation is very "as simple as it can be and no simpler" so a task manager with very few functions seems to be the answer.

Will update the thread with progress/thought if I change my system, and feel free to keep discussing these apps as well in case others read this thread!

Thank you for all your help.

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Reasons I didn't go with Toodledo--it's very fiddly, especially once you add syncing software. I found the task/subtask/duedates things very addictive, and quickly found I was organizing my lists more than working off them. I really try to keep deadlines only to projects, and only to truly time-sensitive ones. At the moment, there's only a deadline on one of my projects, an article I need to submit to an edited volume, because I try to honor the "This will blow up if this date is not met" hard line for date-sensitive stuff.

So for me, gTasks lack of multi-functionality seems to be the way to go--my GTD implementation is very "as simple as it can be and no simpler" so a task manager with very few functions seems to be the answer.

Sounds like a good call. I found myself tweaking Toodledo on a regular basis instead of doing. There is value in having a basic system that just works.

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So I got an iPhone about a year ago. I've been using google Tasks to manage my lists, but I find myself resistant to using them, and I know why--it's just not flexible enough. I often find that I'm offline and need to add something, or I'm processing and I don't have a strong enough signal. I can't add things or check things off my lists on the fly.

(I was an analog GTD-er for years and am seriously contemplating going back to my moleskine pocket notebook for my action lists.)

I've tried also using an add-on to gTasks called Google Tasks Offline, which kind of solves this problem, but not quite to the degree I'd like.

Can any of you point me toward an iPhone app which

a) can manage about 7-9 context lists
b) tasks can be added/checked off even when the phone is offline
c) will sync to PC

Thanks in advance.

I'm the co-founder of a company called Fetchnotes which might be up your alley. You organize your thoughts (to do's, ideas, shopping lists, whatever) with hashtags right in the note, so no extra effort is required like most task software. We have an iPhone app and desktop widget for PC, as well as a web app. Let me know what you think at alex(at)fetchnotes(dot)com.

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I'm the co-founder of a company called Fetchnotes which might be up your alley. You organize your thoughts (to do's, ideas, shopping lists, whatever) with hashtags right in the note, so no extra effort is required like most task software. We have an iPhone app and desktop widget for PC, as well as a web app. Let me know what you think at alex(at)fetchnotes(dot)com.